Krystal Neilson Shares Traumatic Birth Story and Why She Can No Longer Have Kids
Bachelor Nation star Krystal Nielson found love off-screen with her husband Miles Bowles, and the two welcomed their daughter Andara Rose in 2021.
Earlier this year, the couple shared they were expecting their second child — a baby boy. And last month, Krystal and Miles announced baby Rowan had finally arrived after some unexpected complications during birth.
Now, Krystal is telling her birth story for the first time and revealing why she can no longer have children.
In a new post online, she wrote, “Rowan’s birth was the most traumatic experience we’ve ever endured, and we weren’t ready to share the details then…But after a week of healing at home and follow-up discussions with doctors, I finally feel ready to share the full story of what happened.”
“We went in for a scheduled induction due to an umbilical vein varix — the same condition that prompted us to induce early with our daughter Andara,” she began, “33 hours into the induction, I had only progressed from 1cm to 3cm despite the Foley balloon and four rounds of Cytotec. I was utterly exhausted and sleep deprived.”
Krystal explained she then got an epidural and her water broke, so soon after she was finally ready to push. However, after hours of pushing, Krystal could feel that Rowan was no longer descending.
“The OB came to check me and moments later bright blood appeared…Rowan was stuck under my pelvic bone,” she remembered, “When the doctor tried to rotate him, she discovered that my uterus had ruptured. Within seconds, a full code team burst in and rushed me to the OR for an emergency C-section — awake. Rowan swallowed a large amount of blood during the rupture and was rushed to the NICU before I ever saw his face. With an initial Apgar score of 2 and high acidosis levels, they didn’t know if he’d been without oxygen long enough to cause brain damage.”
As they tried removing Rowan, Krystal shared it was so forceful that Miles had to hold her down as she cried out in pain. The doctors later told them that if they hadn’t been at the hospital or in surgery so quickly, one or both of them wouldn’t have made it.
Krystal went on and shared that after a difficult surgery to repair her uterus, she was strongly advised to not have any more children as there’d be a high risk of another rupture.
“Since we’ve been planning on a 3rd child, this news was devastating to hear,” she confessed, “I met my son for the first time when he was two days old, and finally held him on day four, once he was rewarmed and cleared of seizures or brain damage…On day 6, we walked out of NICU together – mama, daddy, and our miracle baby – alive, healthy, perfect, and headed home to big sister Andara.”
What a scary experience. We are so glad that Krystal and Rowan are back home, safe and healthy. We’re sending all our love and we’re wishing them all the best as they continue their healing journey.
